4. Circular Economy

All villages in West Maas en Waal have a litter brigade! As a municipality, we are very proud and happy about this. Thanks to these active volunteers, our municipality remains clean and beautiful. 

The Gelderland Landscape Management Foundation, together with the village platforms, set up litter brigades. A litter brigade is a local group of residents who regularly clean up litter in their neighborhood. The litter brigade focuses on achieving a positive and collective result: it is enjoyable to clean up litter together with neighbors, anyone can take the initiative, and you only participate if you feel like it and have the time. This leads to quick results and makes the local area much more attractive. This encourages others to get involved too, creating a snowball effect.

Since 2023, we also have the Polderjutters. Polderjutters clean up litter twice a year, usually in the inland areas of our municipality. Associations can sign up for this in the spring.
The association receives a minimum of €250 for cleaning up. Good for the association and good for our nature!

Avri is responsible for waste management in our municipality and also processes the waste collected at the recycling center in Beneden-Leeuwen. Avri plans to build a modern and sustainable recycling center at the Medel industrial park in Tiel, which will offer sufficient space for a growing number of visitors. With this initiative, Avri is contributing to the Rivierenland region's ambition to be fully circular by 2050.

Avri's goal is to extract as many usable raw materials as possible from waste so that they can be reused and less residual waste remains. This is in line with the core of the Circular Craft Center, where the emphasis is on extending the life of materials through reuse and recycling. This makes it a place where waste is given a new purpose. There are already many companies and organizations in the region that are involved in the reuse of materials. Avri is investigating whether cooperation with these parties can further strengthen the Circular Craft Center.

Avri employees will assist visitors to the Circular Craft Center in sorting waste, so that it becomes clearer what belongs where. The process will be made clearer with three different zones: the Reuse Square, the Recycle Square, and the Raw Materials Square. Visitors can hand in reusable or recyclable goods at the first two squares, and whatever remains will be left behind at the Raw Materials Square.

In 2024, the amount of residual waste per resident in West Maas en Waal was approximately 65/70 kg.

To reduce waste, Avri has launched a campaign on waste separation and reuse called Geef Het Door(Pass it on) .

The clothing that we throw away in the clothing containers in West Maas en Waal is processed by CIRTEX. CIRTEX is a cooperative based in Tiel that strives for a closed regional chain. At present, a lot of clothing is still transported abroad. By actively entering into partnerships and continuing to think creatively about possible solutions, CIRTEX wants to close the chain. Every year, CIRTEX processes approximately 1.8 million kilograms of textiles from around 100,000 households.

This process begins with the collection of textiles of all qualities. Avri takes care of the collection, and Werkzaak Rivierenland ensures that the textiles are sorted at the sorting center in Tiel. Good items go to 2Switch second-hand shops. The rest goes to our partners i-did, Planq, CLS-Tex, Htex, and Heigo. These partners make new products from the textiles and work on solutions that reuse all of the textiles, leaving no waste behind.

Entrepreneurs are also working to keep the value of products as high as possible and prevent products from ending up in the trash. For example, we have a large thrift store: De Oude School. There you can find toys, clothing, furniture, household items, books, electronics, and more. Every day, the assortment is replenished and changed.

We also have a giveaway store in Beneden-Leeuwen called Re-Style. Here, anyone can select and donate women's, men's, and children's clothing. Retailers with surplus seasonal clothing or accessories can donate their products here.

In addition to the thrift store, you can also visit the second-hand furniture store De Huiszwaluw in Boven-Leeuwen. Here, vintage, designer, and industrial furniture from the 1950s to the 1990s is restored, rented, and sold.

At concept store Vertoeven, they not only have gifts, coffee, and tea, but also a corner with secondhand children's clothing.

There are other ways to extend the lifespan of items, such as repair. Repair cafés give broken items a second life. In 2024, the Hanzehuys in Maasbommel and the 50+ association in Beneden-Leeuwen regularly organized repair cafés. On predetermined dates, interested parties could bring their broken items to be repaired.